Guiding You To A More Magical Life

Wicca Moon Tarot

Wicca Moon Tarot

By Shirlee at Wicca Moon

This pagan themed deck is both beautiful and unusual. Certainly, it’s the only deck I’ve come across where the King and Queen of each suit share a card – a royal couple, if you will. It’s an interesting idea and works quite well, suggesting that there is a balance of yin and yang when we reach a certain level of maturity and wisdom within a particular area of life. It also means that this deck has 74 cards, rather than the traditional 78.

The cards are quite large (9 ½ by 14 ½ cms, or 3 ¾ by 5 ¾ inches), and come without the corners rounded. So, get a corner rounder or (for the brave) a pair of scissors handy. They come in a fairly flimsy cardboard box, which, unusually, uses the artwork from the card backs, and just has black on white text for the sides and back. Said back is a lovely picture of a black cat sitting on a pumpkin. The pumpkin has the words Wicca Moon Tarot written it, as well as an image of a star-spangled pentacle with a witch on a broomstick riding across it – definitely non-reversible 🙂 The card stock is of nice quality, not too thick, and they shuffle quite easily, with a very light gloss finish.

I really like the Minors. They are what I would call semi-illustrated pips: just showing the suit symbols, but with a variety in positioning and surrounding details which make them easy to read intuitively. In fact, I feel the absence of a fixed scenario with people opens up a greater variety of interpretations, though the traditional RWS associations clearly inspired the designs.

For example, the Eight of Cups shows a similar pattern of cups to those in the RWS, and the moon is also similar, without being identical. These elements are given greater emphasis, though, by not being overshadowed by a cloaked figure and a mountain. And here, the moon is precisely in the gap between the cups, suggesting that it is through what is missing, or where we make emotional space, that we will find greater illumination and the source of our dreams.

Another example is the Two of Wands. In this card two wands stand in a flowery meadow looking out over a cliff edge towards a floating globe. Overall, to me, the card speaks of the joy in new possibilities, but offers both the idea of having different potential projects, and that of taking on something in partnership. The Five of Cups suggests the traditional sense of sadness through the murky colours of the water, the haze of cloud over the sun, and the positioning of the cups under a shadowy bridge. Meanwhile, the Three of Swords is jagged and bleeding, yet with butterflies of transformation there if we are willing to look deeper.

There are many rather fae-looking characters in the deck, from the subtle pointed ears of the Kings and Queens of Cups and Pentacles to the more fully faery characters with wings spilling sweets joyfully from on top of mushroom houses in the Sun.

This isn’t the only Major that has been largely reworked. The Wheel of Fortune shows four witches sitting around a table laden with tea cups, cards, frogs, spiders, candles and a pentacle-etched teapot. The witches wear robes and pointy hats, and look as though they may be doing some divination, while bubbles float around them.

Another favourite card is the World. Here we see a dark-skinned, Egyptian-looking angel with white wings that wrap around the world. She holds an ankh, symbol of life, and wears a double-horned moon crown, like the Goddess Hathor. Hathor is associated with motherhood, giving this card a somewhat Gaia-esque feel to it, yet from a very different perspective.

This is not the only card showing some ethnic diversity, as both the Emperor and the Lovers show men of African descent. However, this is where the diversity ends, and the rest of the characters on the Majors, as well as all the Courts, are of European stock.

The Majors, as well as having quite unusual symbolism in many instances, also incorporate futhark runes and ogham letters, as well as astrological symbols, for those that know how to use these in their interpretations. In terms of being able to understand these out of the pack, the deck only comes with an A4 sheet that lists the symbolism for the Majors, with a few key words. For the rest, they would have to be already understood, or researched for yourself.

Overall, this is a very interesting deck that will appeal not only to wiccans, but to pagans more generally, to deck enthusiasts (particularly those who like to support self-published decks), faerie lovers, and those who enjoy semi-illustrated pips. It is a rather gentle, mainly sunny deck, with a strong nature element and detailed, appealing artwork that opens up a breadth of interpretations. While it may not be the best deck for beginners, it has a lot to recommend it.